Broadband Infrastructure

by Jain, Shailendra K.; Hayward, Mark; Kumar, Sharad

• ISBN13: 9781402073786
• ISBN10: 140207378X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

The companies that provide the Internet to the rest of the world do not have the luxury of setting high expectations and assuming they will be met. These Internet infrastructure companies (IICs) are responsible for delivering the Internet's promise, including everything from eBusiness and mobile Internet applications to optical services and high-speed access. The Internet's audience takes this promise for granted, and IICs face the daunting challenge of making the Internet, and networks like it, do what the audience expects them to. To meet the expectations they face, IICs must harness the power of their operations support systems (OSSs) - the software systems in the background they use to create, manage, maintain, manipulate and adapt their networks to serve customers reliably and rapidly. Broadband Infrastructure: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding and Delivering OSS/BSS is a "how to" book for Internet infrastructure companies to help them prepare for the decisions they will face when constructing their core OSS strategies and infrastructure. This book provides a source of reference and education to learn the language, methods, and technologies associated with the OSS market. It examines the Internet infrastructure supply chain and how it will be automated. Finally, it brings together a wealth of proven knowledge and advice, gathered from BusinessEdge Solutions' extensive OSS experience, that broadband providers can use to minimize their OSS risks while maximizing their ability to differentiate and compete.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Introduction to IICs and OSS	p. 1
OSS' Role	p. 2
What are Some of These "Expectations?"	p. 3
What is an Internet Infrastructure Company (IIC)?	p. 5
IIC Business Models	p. 7
Dependent on OSS and One Another	p. 12
What is an OSS?	p. 13
A Detailed Look at OSS	p. 15
OSS Functionality	p. 15
A Little History	p. 15
Order Entry	p. 16
Service Validation	p. 17
Product Catalog	p. 18
Service Reservation	p. 19
Order Types	p. 19
Order Management	p. 20
Order Decomposition	p. 20
Workflow Management	p. 21
"Design and Assign"	p. 22
Communication with Trading Partners	p. 23
Interconnect Gateways	p. 23
Gateway Components	p. 25
Handling USOC Codes	p. 27
Network Inventory	p. 27
Inventory Management and Auto-Discovery	p. 29
Provisioning and Activation	p. 30
Flow-Through Provisioning	p. 31
Activation	p. 32
Provisioning with Trading Partners	p. 33
Billing and Mediation	p. 33
Mediation and Rating	p. 34
Convergent Billing	p. 35
The IP Effect	p. 36
Billing Schemes	p. 37
QoS and SLAs	p. 38
Network and Trouble Management	p. 38
Network Management Systems (NMSs)	p. 39
Trouble Management Systems	p. 41
Policy Management	p. 43
OSS in the Cable World	p. 46
OSS and the Web Portal	p. 46
The Web Portal as an OSS Component	p. 47
Defining eBusiness for the IIC Marketplace	p. 48
Automating the Internet Infrastructure Supply Chain	p. 51
What Stands in the Way?	p. 51
Interconnection as a Choke Point	p. 51
Lack of OSS Integration	p. 54
Why the Focus on Technology?	p. 55
TMN	p. 56
The Internet Infrastructure Supply Chain: Basic Components	p. 58
Wholesale-Retail: The DSL Example	p. 62
Digging Deeper	p. 64
Communicating with the Wholesalers	p. 65
The Internet, Workflow and Gateways	p. 68
Cable's Last Mile	p. 68
Provisioning a Cable Modem	p. 69
New Challenges for Cable OSS	p. 72
Real-Time Provisioning	p. 72
Open Access	p. 73
Device Conflicts	p. 73
The Growing Network	p. 74
Voice Services	p. 75
Infrastructure Services vs. Virtual Services	p. 76
The Mobile World	p. 76
The Mobile Supply Chain	p. 78
OSS for the Mobile IIC	p. 81
Basic Mobile Provisioning Process--CSR Based	p. 82
Looking at Some Missing Pieces	p. 84
Content Transformation	p. 85
OSS for 2.5 and 3G Networks	p. 86
Moving Forward	p. 89
Developing an OSS Strategy	p. 91
Value Proposition and Business Strategy	p. 92
Products and Services Strategy	p. 93
Network Strategy	p. 94
Sales and Service Strategy	p. 95
Budget and Investment Strategy	p. 95
Funding Strategy	p. 96
Operational Strategy	p. 97
Configuration and Process	p. 98
Enabling Competitive Differentiation	p. 99
Business Partner Integration and eBusiness Capability	p. 99
Flow-Through	p. 100
Business Intelligence	p. 101
Developing an Implementation Strategy	p. 102
The Build vs. Buy Decision	p. 102
Big Bang vs. Phased Deployment	p. 103
The "Big Bang" Method	p. 103
Developing a Phased Approach	p. 105
Best-of-Breed vs. OSS-in-a-Box	p. 107
In-House or Outsource?	p. 107
Risk Mitigation Strategies	p. 109
Lessons Learned	p. 111
The Enterprise OSS Platform	p. 113
OSS Vendors	p. 113
Evaluating the OSS Vendor and its Goods	p. 115
Vendor Origins	p. 116
Understanding Vendor Solutions	p. 118
Customization vs. Configuration	p. 118
Packages, Frameworks and Toolkits, and End-to-End Solutions	p. 119
Evaluating OSS Solutions and Vendors	p. 120
Common Pitfalls	p. 123
Evaluating the Applications	p. 124
Building the OSS Platform	p. 130
Tackling Implementation and Configuration	p. 130
The Web Portal's Role in OSS	p. 138
B2B Wholesale Portals	p. 140
Account Creation and Maintenance Transactions	p. 141
Ordering Transactions	p. 141
Trouble Ticketing Transactions	p. 142
Billing Transactions	p. 143
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Portals	p. 143
Building Effective Web Portals	p. 145
Implementation and Architecture Case Studies	p. 145
Integrating the OSS Platform	p. 151
Common Integration Objectives	p. 151
Order Flow-Through	p. 152
Service Assurance Flow-Through	p. 152
Integrated Customer View	p. 153
Data Synchronization	p. 153
The Integrated OSS Platform	p. 153
Who Owns The Data?	p. 154
What Are The Transactions That Flow Among Systems?	p. 157
Sales Force Automation Transactions	p. 158
Web-Based Care Transactions	p. 158
Order Management and Provisioning Transactions	p. 159
Billing Transactions	p. 160
Business Goal: Service Assurance Flow-Through	p. 161
Network Monitoring Transactions	p. 161
Customer Relationship Management Transactions	p. 162
Web-Based Care Transactions	p. 162
Billing Transactions	p. 163
Business Goal: Deriving Integrated Business Intelligence	p. 164
Why Is Integration So Difficult?	p. 165
Application Package Flexibility	p. 166
Process and Data Assumptions	p. 167
Application Programming Interfaces	p. 168
Product Catalog Integration	p. 169
Business-to-Business Integration	p. 172
Integration Technologies	p. 173
Getting to the Data	p. 173
Integration Techniques	p. 176
Point-to-Point Integration	p. 178
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)	p. 179
EAI Functional Components	p. 180
Other EAI Components	p. 183
EAI Vs. Point-to-Point	p. 184
What Connectors are Available?	p. 184
Where Do I Manage Workflow?	p. 185
What Kind of Skills Do I Need to Deploy EAI?	p. 187
Is Enterprise Application Integration Possible?	p. 189
How Much Time Does Integration Require?	p. 191
Integration Approaches and Phased Implementation	p. 192
Integration Case Studies	p. 192
Sales Force Automation to Order Management	p. 192
Order Management to Billing	p. 194
Order Management to Network Activation	p. 195
Service Assurance	p. 196
Web Portal	p. 198
Summing Up Integration	p. 199
Supporting the Life of an OSS Integrated Platform	p. 201
Moving to Production	p. 201
Migration Phases	p. 203
Lessons Learned in Conversion	p. 206
Support Organization and Cost	p. 207
Examining the IT Organization	p. 208
Maintenance	p. 208
Application Support	p. 208
Costs	p. 209
Configuration Management	p. 210
Maintenance Models	p. 210
Handling Mergers and Acquisitions	p. 211
Next-Generation OSS	p. 215
The Driving Force: The Next-Generation Network (NGN)	p. 216
Driving Intelligence into the Network	p. 217
Moving to Packets	p. 218
IP Switching to the Core	p. 219
QoS Guaranteed Service Delivery	p. 220
The Converged Network	p. 221
The Technologies and Protocols for NGN	p. 221
Integrated Access Device (IAD)	p. 221
Broadband Aggregator	p. 223
MPLS	p. 224
Softswitch	p. 226
Next-Generation DLC	p. 228
SIP	p. 229
DOCSIS and PacketCable	p. 231
3G Wireless	p. 232
Support for the Next-Generation OSS	p. 234
Multi-Domain Management	p. 234
QoS and SLA Management	p. 242
Real-Time Usage Collection and Billing	p. 243
User-Interface Considerations	p. 243
Component-Based Architecture	p. 244
Standards and Trends	p. 248
The Standards: TeleManagement Forum--NGOSS Framework	p. 248
The Web Services Revolution	p. 248
What Are the ISVs Doing?	p. 250
The Future of OSS	p. 251
Network Intelligence and Service Logic	p. 252
Application Services, Interactive Media and Billing	p. 252
Interactive Television	p. 253
Managing Where the Money Flows	p. 254
Further eBusiness Requirements	p. 256
Access--Privacy and Security	p. 256
Integration	p. 257
OSS Spending	p. 259
The Effect of Globalization on OSS	p. 259
Expertise	p. 260
velOSSity	p. 261
Glossary	p. 263
Index	p. 279
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